Tuesday, July 11

Why did God Create The Human Race? The Ancient Texts Study

The purpose of creation may puzzle people at some point in their lifetime making them wonder: “Why do I exist?”, “What is the meaning of my life?” or “Is my existence part of a divine plan?”.

Most of the people, however, live their entire lives without a clue as to why they are here. Some enjoy debating the meaning of life but never arrive at the correct answers. Others think that mankind is little more than the product of evolution that was produced by blind dumb luck and don't believe in soul/energy existence.

They assume that only the material body exists and it is a merely a chance product of an accidental combination of its elements and, as a result, there is no purpose for existence. Usually, they follow various evolution theories, but have a hard time explaining certain facts, such as why the human genome shares only 2% of the DNA with the chimpanzee genome.

Without knowledge of the purpose of life, our existence loses all meaning and seems like a total waste. The reward of an eternal life or happiness after life has no meaning whatsoever.

Even those who follow New Age doctrine are usually convinced that God’s purpose in creating human beings was simply to experience his own self as the Creator of His own experience. According to this concept, God is in the continual act of creating His self. Whatever experience the human race gets, be it good or bad, it is for the purpose to become “self-conscious”. They believe good and evil does not exist, but it is simply how someone perceives things from his own point of view. Consequently, no matter how evil a person is and how much damage he does to others, everybody will eventually return to the Original Divine Source and exist in a blissful state of harmony and peace.

Not only is this way of thinking is dangerous, but it is delusional. Since everybody has free will, not all are willing to return to the Divine Source, simply because they may not know what it is. Others may simply discard any doctrine because they believe that everything evolved by the accident and the Creative Source (or God) doesn’t exist. There are other numerous man-made doctrines and explanations that are too long to list.

The Bible tells us that men’s nature is sinful from the beginning of the creation of the human race due to Adam and Eve’s fall. While this concept appears to be valid, it doesn’t seem fair. For example, what if there are few righteous men out of the billions who live a perfectly righteous life, fulfilling all of the requirements and commandments that they have received from the Divine? They are still sinners by default.

Consider the story of Job, a righteous man who had a personal relationship with God and fully complied with God's commandments. During his trials Job was judged heavily by his friends and other believers. Modern day Christians would probably point their fingers at Job concluding he must be cheating on his wife, have practicing astrology, or had shaved his beard on the Sabbath. He would be constantly blamed and persecuted for something he didn’t do, while in reality, he was considered innocent and fully righteous person by the Most High.

The main question is, why good people suffer? If Job and others like him were righteous, why did the Most High test them? It is obvious from the story that Job loved God so much he would happily give his life away if necessary and God knew it.

Was Job’s persecution the right thing to do?

While the Bible gives very limited information regarding this topic in general, I have discovered a few interesting scriptures that logically answer this question thus completely solving this mystery.

Da Vinci Code

Many years ago, I came across a few beautiful paintings of Leonardo da Vinci, an Italian Renaissance polymath whose areas of interest included invention, science, anatomy, and more. The first painting I saw was a famous painting "The Last Supper".

The next one was an interesting and complex drawing of a man called “The Vitruvian Man”. Vitruvius depicted the human body as being the principal source of proportion among the Classical orders of architecture. If a Supreme Being would want to make a drawing of a first human being like Adam, the sketch would look exactly like The Vitruvian Man.

For many historians and scholars, Leonardo was a “Universal Genius” and some even considered him as mysterious and remote. People held a deep respect for his technological ingenuity. In his other works, he conceptualized flying machines, fighting vehicles, and concentrated solar power among other things.

Leonardo also worked on many anatomical sketches of body parts and wing structures that resembled a bird’s anatomy. Some of his work may actually reveal a hidden mystery that Da Vinci knew more than the average man about the purpose of creation.

Morning Stars Sang Together

The Bible tells us that in the beginning, God created an innumerable company of beings called Angels. These free willed beings were pure and holy, and existed with God (and still do) in a place called Heaven as part of God’s big family. Created by God as selfless beings, there was no discord or contention among them, as every one of them was filled with the love of God and love for one another.

Things in Heaven worked out pretty well for Sons of God as they all lived and sang together in peace and harmony. Here God is asking Job where he was when the morning stars sang together and I doubt Job knew the answer:

Where was thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding. When the morning stars sang together, and all the Sons of God shouted for joy? (Job 38:7).

Did God just provide Job with a secret clue that Job indeed was there as one of the morning stars?

It is important to note the Bible does not usually explain all there is to know about a subject in one place and in a perfect chronological order. Even the biblical writers that God inspired didn’t always fully understand what they recorded (compare Daniel 12:8-9; 1 Peter 1:10-12 for example).

Genesis 1:1 says “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” and many assumes that this passage describes the beginning of everything, but as they read further, there are details of events and conditions that took place earlier, such as “In the beginning was the Word”. As a result, many people assume that the creation drama in the Bible started from Adam and Eve’s disobedience and fall from the grace of God.

The original cosmic drama started much earlier and took place in the Heavenly realms. The story continues, describing the creation of a certain Cherub who was the most powerful of God’s angelic beings. He was described as “perfect in beauty” and was covered with all kinds of precious stones. The Bible also tells us that he ranked above all the principalities and powers, (powerful angelic beings that ruled over all of God’s creation). However, due to his iniquity (immoral or grossly unfair behavior), he was filled with violence and sinned. As a result, God promised to cast him down from the “mountain of God” at some point in the future (“I will cast thee out of the mountain of God” Ezekiel 28:16).

It was the beginning of a big drama that initiated the Rebellion against God. The anointed Cherub took 1/3 of hundreds of millions of Holy Angels with him into the Rebellion. He was probably a big Drama Queen, and angels listened to his wonderful speeches and chose to follow him.

Since the drama took place in the cosmic realm, it probably involved many places and planets, and many types of Angels. The anointed Cherub fell before the beginning of physical time (Genesis 1:2 describes the Earth as being “without form and void”). Adam and Eve were outside of physical time before their fall. Time didn’t begin until the fall.

The rebellion of the Holy Angels was now taking them in a direction from which there could be no return. They wanted freedom from God and His laws, and chose to form their own government searching for freedom from any laws or restrictions that they didn’t find in God’s government.

In John 12:31 and Corinthians 4:4 the Serpent was called “the god of this age” and granted a legal right to be “the ruler of this world”. It is no accident that in Genesis 3, shortly after God created Adam and Eve, the Serpent appeared on the scene since the Earth was his domain. However, he wasn’t cast down to the Earth immediately after the Rebellion. When Job asked Satan “From where do you come?”, he replied “From going to and fro on the earth and from walking back and forth on it” (Job 1:7).

Petition of the Rebelled Angels

The Bible speaks primarily of three orders of angelic beings, each with different functions and abilities. Every one of the angelic beings had a role to play in God’s eternal plans for His creation:

- Archangels: commissioned by God to oversee entire nations on Earth, and to be the messengers of God to men. Some of them interacted with humans at different times in the past.

- Cherubim: the order of angels we think of as “guardian angels," they appear to be the helpers of mankind.

- Seraphim: an order of angelic beings that surround God’s throne giving Him unceasing praise and worship.

The earliest reference to the angelic system was given by Enoch - the seventh from Adam and a righteous scribe. He mentioned seven archangels (Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Raguel, Remiel and Sariel) and angelic groups whose responsibilities included looking after the affairs of humankind, or guarding them with the armies of heavenly hosts. The three main archangels - Michael, Gabriel, and Lucifer - each led 1/3 of hundreds of millions of angels where Lucifer ruled the pre-Adamic world (Rev 5:11).

In the Book of Enoch, the Watchers were Angels / Archangels that could take a human form whenever they wished and Enoch was never doubted their divinity (The Book of Enoch 17.1). Once again, as with Adam and Eve, God became angry with the Watchers after seeing his Holy Angels going against His commandments and corrupting themselves with Earthly women. That corrupted offspring resulted in DNA modifications and turned certain genes on and off.

I used to think that Watchers existed in the form of Evil Spirits or Demons on the Earthly plane. However, Enoch, who spent a lot of his time with the Watchers and knew everything about them including their names, wrote that only their offspring became “Evil Spirits”:

And now, my father, I am entreating you and petitioning you, to go to our father Enoch, and learn from him the truth, for his dwelling is with the Angels (The Book of Enoch 106.7).

And now, the giants who wereborn from body and flesh will be called Evil Spirits on the Earth, and on the Earth will be their dwelling. And evil spirits came out from their flesh because from above they were created, from the Holy Watchers was their origin and first foundation. Evil spirits they will be on Earth and ‘Spirits of the Evil Ones’ they will be called. And the dwelling of the Spirits of Heaven is Heaven, but the dwelling of the spirits of the Earth, who were born on the Earth, is Earth. And the spirits of the giants do wrong, are corrupt, attack, fight, break on the Earth, and cause sorrow. And these spirits will rise against the sons of men, and against the women because they came out of them during the days of slaughter and destruction (The Book of Enoch 15.8 - 15.12).

The Book of Enoch doesn’t provide any information about the original rebellion nor how many Angels participated in it before the human race was created. However, there was a group of Angelic beings who wanted to submit a petition to God on their behalf:

These are the leaders of the two hundred Angels and of all the others with them (The Book of Enoch 6:8)

And they will petition you, but the petitioners will gain nothing in respect of them, for they hope for eternal life, and that each of them will live life for five hundred years (The Book of Enoch 10.10).

The petition process indicates that at least some groups of the Watchers / Holy Angels felt guilty over their acts and wanted to repent, while the other group of Watchers kept following their original Rebellion plan and never had the desire to repent:

The name of the first is Yequn; this is the one who led astray all the children of the Holy Angels, and he brought them down onto the dry ground, and led them astray through the daughters of men. And the name of the second is Asbeel; this one suggested an evil plan to the children of the Holy Angels, and led them astray, so that they corrupted their bodies with the daughters of men (The Book of Enoch 69.4 - 5).

The main point here is that Angels had a legal right to petition on their behalf if they were ready to repent and wanted to go back to Heaven. Sons of God as well as Sons of Men, had this right. Unfortunately, for some unknown reasons only Sons of Men (humans) were able to obtain forgiveness and Angelic beings couldn’t get it:

And now to the Watchers, who sent you to petition on their behalf, who were formerly in Heaven: "You were in Heaven but its secrets had not yet been revealed to you, and a worthless mystery you knew. This you made known to women, in the hardness of your hearts. And through this mystery, the women and the men cause evil to increase on the Earth. And they asked me to write out for them the record of a petition, so that they might receive forgiveness, and to take a record of their petition up to the Lord in Heaven (The Book of Enoch 16.3 - 4).

Here Enoch describes how petition process works only on behalf of the Sons of Men (humans):

There my eyes saw their dwelling with the Angels, and their resting places with the Holy Ones and they were petitioning and supplicating and praying, on behalf of the Sons of Men; and righteousness, like water, flowed in front of them, and mercy like dew on the ground. Thus it is among them forever and ever (The Book of Enoch 39.5).

But a sheep, which had been saved from the wolves, fled and escaped to the wild asses. And I saw the sheep moaning and crying out, and petitioning the Lord with all their power, until that Lord of the sheep came down at the call of the sheep, from a high room, and came to them, and
looked at them (The Book of Enoch 89.16).

Once again, a group of rebel Angels who have repented was not granted forgiveness. However, it is logical to assume that Sons of God (Angels) did have a chance for mercy only if God would incarnate them into a human form as Sons of Men for testing and redemption purposes.

Since the Holy Angels were often referred as “stars” like in Job 38:7, the following passage can be interpreted to support the transformation and redemption of rebelled Angels who petitioned and fully repented:

And again I saw flashes of lightning and the stars of Heaven, and I saw how He called them all by their names, and they obeyed Him. And I saw the Balance of Righteousness, how they are weighed according to their light, according to the width of their areas, and the day of their appearing. And how their revolutions produce lightning, and I saw their revolutions, according to the number of the Angels, and how they keep faith with one another.

And I asked the Angel, who went with me and showed me what is a secret: "What are these?”. And he said to me: "Their likeness, the Lord of Spirits has shown to you; these are the names of the righteous who, dwellon the dry ground and believe in the name of the Lord of Spirits for ever and ever. And other things I saw concerning lightning, how some of the stars rise and become lightning but cannot lose their form. (The Book of Enoch 43.1 - 4 and 44.1)

Created Little Lower Than Angels

Some people assume that God created angels solely for the purpose of being “ministering spirits” to assist the “heirs of salvation” (Hebrews 1:14) and, unlike humans, angels are not offered membership into the Family of God. In reality, God uses His Holy Angels to aid in the rescue of His children. Angels are important helpers who constantly deliver us from evil. Angels proclaim the greatness of God and the good news of salvation in the Heavens and throughout the Earth.

Even though we were created a little “lower” than Angels spiritually, they serve God in their actions toward us. In fact, God loves us so much that He actually “assigns” a guardian Angel to each one of us.

For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the Sons of God; for the creation [all things in the known universe] was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God (Romans 8:19).

Genesis 1 describes the creation of Heaven, Earth, animals and the first humans, but very limited information exists about the creation of the Angels. It seems unlikely that no one would mention such important created beings in the Creation story.

The Bible does have a story about Lucifer becoming a Fallen Angel, but it never says directly where the rest of the Angels came from. In addition, there are plenty of scriptures in the Bible that suggest angels are humans who have gone on to Heaven. There are also many places in the Bible where Angels are referred to as “men”. In Daniel 9:21, the angel Gabriel was called a “man”:

While I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen before in a vision, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice (Daniel 9:21).

The same pattern is seen in several other verses in Genesis 18:2, 16, 22; 19:10, 12, 16 where Angels are called “men” or “Man of God” (Judges 13).

The two angels who visited Lot in Genesis 19:1-29 (called "angels" in verses 1 & 15) are called "men" in Genesis 18:2, 16, 22; 19:10, 12, 16, and in several other verses in Genesis 18 & 19.

Enoch, who dwelled with Angels, wrote himself the following:

For men were created no differently from the Angels, so that they might remain righteous and pure, and death, which destroys everything, would not have touched them; but through this knowledge, they are being destroyed and through this power, death consumes them (The Book of Enoch 69.11).

When people on the Earth have an angelic encounter, they commonly think that they are meeting a human being rather than an Angel:

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. (Hebrews 13:2).

In summary, the Bible uses words "man" and “Angel" almost interchangeably when speaking about Angels. If Angels were a separate race, the scriptures would not refer to them as “men”, or “people”.

The Cycle of Redemption

During his ministry, Jesus used to tell three famous and very important parables which only a few understood. The Parable of the Prodigal Son was one of the main parables of Jesus in Luke 15:11-32. It was the third and final part of a cycle of redemption, following the Parable of the Lost Sheep, and the Parable of the Lost Coin.

The Parable of the Prodigal Son was a story about a father that had two sons. The younger son was “prodigal”, “wastefully extravagant” and willingly left his father’s house, took his belongings, and eventually wasted all his money on extravagant living. After experiencing poverty and hardship, he finally realized his mistake, and decided to return home to beg his father to make him one of his hired servants, thinking that his father was still mad at him. To his surprise, his father not only welcomed him back and treated him with a generosity, but even threw a big celebration upon his return.

Since Jesus used to hang out with all types of sinners, many assumed that by telling these parables he was referring to sinners who are considered lost. However, the characters used in these parables resemble the story of the Sons of God (Angels) who left their Father and the Heavenly realms and then returned back to Heaven after the cycle of redemption. These parables are a clear reference about the Father in Heaven, who rejoices and welcomes back his lost Heavenly Sons after they realized their mistake of leaving their home and have fully repented.

The Return of the Lord with Saints / Angels

Since “Flesh and blood” cannot go to Heaven (1 Cor. 15:50-51), the Bible describes a future world where there will be no eating or drinking, no “fructification” or increase (of children), and no hatred, contention, or envy. Saints will be immortal just as the Angels of God in Heaven are. They will be incorporeal, e.g. having only spiritual bodies:

At the appointed time known by me, to quicken the dead, I will return to thee that body which is holy and renewed, as at the first, to be, as the Holy Angels.

After the flesh returns to the dust, the soul of the righteous men will get back to an angelic form. Jude 14 speaks of the Lord’s coming with his holy ones that reference Angels (and not men) and is indicated by the words of Jesus when he used the same term in connection with the Angels that will accompany him at his coming.

The expression “ten thousands of saints” when used in Deuteronomy refers to angels:

I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north—an immense Cloud with Flashing Lightning and surrounded by Brilliant Light. The center of the fire looked like glowing Metal (Ezekiel 1:4). Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints (Jude 14).

The word "saints" means “hagios", “holy”, or in this instance “holy [ones].” There is absolutely nothing in this word itself to indicate who these holy ones are. The term could refer to either men or Angels, depending on the context.

Jesus himself taught that he would come with the Holy Angels:

The Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the Holy [hagios] Angels with him (Mt. 25:31).

The expression “ten thousands of saints” (used in Jude 14) also appears in Deuteronomy 33:2 which is generally regarded as referring to Angels:

The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints.

Concerning this passage, the Pulpit Commentary points out that a better translation would be “ten thousands of holy ones”, for the reference is to “myriads of angels” and that the Lord came forth from among them to manifest himself to the people. If the expression “ten thousands of saints” referred to angelic beings in Deuteronomy, then it is logical to say that the same expression could refer to angelic beings in Jude 14.

Conclusion

I strongly believe that the human race is nothing more than incarnated Holy Angels who rebelled before the creation of the Earth (or when it was created without form and void). God’s plan for the mankind is to redeem His Holy Angels, who have rebelled and turned away from Him before Time and to once again welcome His Sons back home.

Some may not agree with this interpretation of these scriptures. However, I strongly believe that pure and innocent beings simply don’t incarnate on the Earth, unless they have some testing, cleansing and/or repentance to do, or have a specific mission of redemption like Jesus did (but he was the exception, a perfect man without spot or blemish).

The concept of original Rebellion explains pretty much everything: the true reason behind the suffering and testing of the saints, the current “beast” system, and why things happen a certain way. I believe that everything we are experiencing now is a product of our own choice or free will that took place outside of Time and physical reality. The good news is the human race still can make choices and free itself from bondage. There is an option that was given by Jesus Christ to complete this redemption cycle and return home - a pure place of bliss and harmony.